Former American Idol Contestant Sentenced To 70 Years For Child Porn Possession

Former American Idol contestant Brandon Cox was sentenced to 70 years of jail time on Wednesday for seven possession of child pornography counts. According to a Fox affiliate in Alabama, WSFA 12 News, Cox was convicted of the charges back in January.

“We asked for 10 years on each count," said Assistant District Attorney Kristy Peoples in the report. "We are happy the judge saw the evidence as it was."

The State Bureau of Investigation took nearly 20 hours showing technical and explicit testimony during the trial. According to the report, the jury struggled to look at the horrific images and videos during each day of the trial. They looked at approximately 275 files that were found on Cox's computer hard drive.

Cox’s defense was that he did not know what was on his computer because he had only used it to download music. He stated this multiple times during the trial.

“We are talking about toddlers, sexual penetration, oral sex, and the horrific nature of these photos and the quantity of the photos,” Peoples said. “I think that is why the judge did impose the sentence we asked for.”